No, Joe Rogan Isn’t Dead: Viral Tweet Announcing His Passing Sets Off Wild Social Media Chain
First of all, Joe Rogan is not dead.
This, despite two mysterious Twitter accounts @ChillStableGuy and the since-deleted @joerogannhq announcing the “death” of podcast industry titan Joe Rogan at 6:50 pm ET on Tuesday.
The tweets read “We are saddened to announce the passing of Joe Rogan. He died peacefully in his home this afternoon, we will provide more details as they arrive, with respect to his family’s wishes.”
After posting, the account @joerogannhq seemingly disappeared and was deleted but that wasn’t before the post began to spread.
Soon after, @ChillStableGuy started a thread further legitimizing the first post by the defunct @joerogannhq account. They began sharing screenshots of heartfelt tribute tweets from what seemed to be real “celebrity accounts” including the President of the UFC and Elon Musk.
They posted a screenshot of a tweet from a fake UFC account claiming to share a statement from President Dana White which read, “The entire UFC family is devastated to hear of Joe Rogan’s passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family she loved ones, and we will make sure to continue his legacy.”
Many overlooked the obvious typos in the tweet as more fake tributes began to be shared via screenshots and Rogan fans flooded Twitter with messages of support.
Soon after, RIP Joe Rogan began trending on the platform and the fake celeb tweets began to spread like wildfire. Most fan messages thanked the host for his years of dedication to his audience while others began to speculate that his use of Ivermectin could have contributed to his alleged passing.
In another forged picture, Rogan’s longtime producer Jamie Vernon appeared to tweet a solemn “fuck” in response to his boss’s passing.
Another forged screenshot seemed to show Spotify releasing a statement on the loss of Rogan, saying “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Joe Rogan. A full statement will follow, but for now, the entire Spotify’s families thoughts are with those close to Joe.”
A fake Elon Musk account saw the new Twitter board member mourn the loss of his friend. It read “Rest in Peace Joe Rogan. As the new guy at Twitter, it’s voices like yours I am working to protect. I hope I do you proud.”
Some users began to question the legitimacy of the celebrity tweets, as the time stamps seemed to be an hour ahead of time. This Musk’s tweet above was timestamped 8:29 pm, but the screenshot was posted at 7:33 pm.
Then, less than an hour after the initial tweet, the grand hoax completely unraveled when Rogan himself tweeted at 7:31 p.m. sharing an article about UFOs.
@ChillStableGuy was determined to keep the joke going even after users began to point out the typos and screenshots. The account quickly quote tweeted Rogan’s post and wrote, “Celebrities and public figures frequently schedule tweets in advance. I have just gotten an update from the late Mr. Rogan’s team that this was a previously scheduled post. It will soon be deleted and they are working to prevent more from posting.”
Soon, articles began to appear falsely claiming Rogan’s death. Internet Chronicle published an obituary – Joe Rogan Dead at 46 followed by InsideEko’s article American commentator and The Joe Rogan Experience host is dead. The hoax would quickly be debunked before other outlets could report it.
But the backlash and flood of questions from Twitter users were all too much for @ChillStableGuy to bear. At 10:08 pm he tweeted one final time, a fake “statement” from the Rogan family reading “We are devastated to learn of the passing of our beloved Joe, a Husband, Father, Son, and Hero to so many. Joe accomplished so much during his short time here, and we take solace in knowing that he inspired so many of you as much as he was able to inspire us. While we ask for you to respect our privacy at this time in regards to his death, we would like to share Joe’s final words as he passed into the great beyond: ‘I’m Gay”.
